Man Thai beach

This guide to Man Thai beach in Da Nang follows the fishermen who once each spring trade their nets for a mock boat built right on the sand. You'll hear about hat ba trao, the boat-rowing song led by a caller called the tong mui, and why Man Thai is one of only five fishing wards in the city still staging it. It also traces the older debt behind the performance: the local belief that whales, called Ong or grandfather, have long protected sailors at sea. Best watched at dawn, when the same singers are back out in their round rattan basket boats.